You're a castaway where no one hears you
by fairestparrillafics
Summary: Rumple could never let Regina win. When the curse was cast, he made sure she forgot everything. No longer is she the Evil Queen, she is simply Regina Mills. One day, Emma Swan shows up, brought to Storybrooke by her son, who still knows Regina's hidden identity. Both Regina and Emma slowly become friends, but if the curse is broken, just how will that change things between the two?
1. Chapter 1

"Henry! Henry… Are you okay? Where have you been? What happened?" Was the concerned sound that caught everyone's attention once the heavy, white door had been flung open in desperation that could belong to a distraught mother only. All Emma could do was watch the figure of the stranger run up to the son they appeared to share whilst she wrapped her arms around him.

"I found my real mom," Snapped the youngster, storming off into the majestic house, another unknown figure following him.

"I… I'm sorry," Emma found herself mumbling, taking tentative steps towards the other woman. Despite not knowing her, despite being informed by Henry that she was evil, all she could feel was guilt. Regret building up inside of her at the sight of tears forming in her eyes whilst she stood frightfully still, emotion having overwhelmed her.

"It's okay," Replied Regina, a shuddering breath before her words implying otherwise. "I knew he would want to know you at some point," the breaks in her voice made the supposedly malevolent presence look innocent, causing Emma to step closer to her.

"Want to go inside?" Emma suggested, placing a careful hand on the fabric of the mayor's dress, not wanting to intrude. "We do kinda need to talk about this and outside probably isn't the best place for it,"

It was a suggestion that earnt a slow nod from Regina, who indicated for Emma to follow her. Instinctively casting a glance over her shoulder, the blonde headed for the door left open for her by the other's hand. "Thank you," Emma said, casting a bashful smile Regina's way who returned it in a watery, yet genuine, fashion.

"I'm sorry you had to bring him all the way up here," Regina said as Emma sat down, the brunette headed for two glasses and a bottle of something that informed Emma the woman she would be sharing it with had fine tastes. "I would have come myself, or asked Graham - he's the man you saw go after Henry just then. I hope he didn't give you any trouble,"

"Nah, it was fine. I have no idea how he found me though, do you?" Asked Emma, watching as Regina set a generous glass full of bubbly liquid down in front of her, thanking her as she did so.

"No, when I adopted him, he was only three weeks old. The records were sealed," Regina sighed, taking a sip of her own drink. "Cider," she added, noting Emma's curious glances towards the beverage. "Apple,"

"Fitting,"

"Fitting?" Asked Regina, confusion evident as her wide eyes caught Emma's. Still there were tears stroking the outline of them, in that moment Emma decided the woman was trying hard to not break down there and then.

"You know… the fairytale thing? I don't mean to intrude but-"

"Oh that," sighed Regina, taking a sip of her drink in an attempt to act calm. However, the shaking of her hand forced her into placing the glass down on the table once again. "I just don't… I don't know why he insists I'm the Evil Queen,"

"It could be worse, he could think you're a cricket," Emma mumbled, attempting to lighten the mood. It earnt a small smile from the woman at any rate, making one of Emma's own appear ever so slightly.

"At least he wouldn't think I'm evil," Regina lamented.

"You aren't. Evil, that is. I don't think you are anyway. I'm sure what Henry thinks about you will go away at some point," Emma said, looking across to Regina to watch as a small tear ran down the shape of her cheek, landing silently on her lap, darkening a slight spot of grey in her dress.

"And what if it doesn't?" Asked Regina, "What if he always sees me as the Evil Queen?"

"I… I,"

"It's okay," Regina sadly smiled, "I don't know either. Can I ask you something that may be easier for you to answer?"

"Sure, fire away,"

"What's your name?"

"Emma Swan. And yours?"

"Regina Mills. Nice to meet you Emma Swan, will you be sticking around?"

"I don't usually do that, the sticking around thing isn't my style," hand reaching for her glass to down it in one.

"You should try it some time," Regina smiled softly, "But until then, please tell me you will be coming back. Henry needs you,"

"I promise to come back, but I can't stay here. It's too much. I… I never meant for anything like this to happen, you know?"

"When? When will you come back? I understand that this is a lot for you and I don't want to push you, I really don't. But I have a son up there that needs to know you,"

"Next weekend, then we can discuss actual meetings," Emma decided with a small nod.

"Sounds good," Regina nodded, watching as Emma stood up to leave. "Will you be okay to drive? I know you only had a glass but-"

"I'll be fine, thank you Regina," Emma smiled.

"If you are sure, I'll see you to your car,"

"You don't have to, I'm sure you are a busy woman,"

"Surely a few seconds won't hurt. Anyway I want to," Regina said softly, opening the door so Emma could walk out of it. The journey to the car was in silence, a comfortable one. "Drive safe," was Regina's way of breaking it.

"I will do. Don't worry about me,"

"See you Saturday,"

"See you then," Smiled Emma, getting into the car and pulling the door shut behind her, waving as she drove down the road. Both Regina and her home becoming specks before disappearing altogether, it was only until she rounded a corner, driving close to Storybrooke's border, that she allowed herself to think of what she had just experienced. In regards to both Henry and his mother, the woman who told her to be safe. Sitting there, nearing the sign that informed her she was leaving, the blonde tried to think back to the last time someone was concerned for her. It was an impossible task. With that revelation, Emma's eyes flickered down from the wheel, contemplating the conversation she had shared with Regina. She wasn't allowed to though, for her concentration was caught on something else… a certain book.

"Sneaky bastard," sighed Emma, knowing exactly what Henry's motive was. Well, he could wait for his book. Saturday was only a few days away. Without it, perhaps he would stop thinking about it - stop thinking that his mother was evil. When she was anything but.

Shaking her head at the thought, hoping that Henry would treat Regina okay in her absence, Emma finally looked back up at the road.

It was too late.

Suddenly, somehow, the blonde was swerving to seek safety from the wolf adamantly stood in the middle of the road. Out of control, the yellow bug smashed into the Storybrooke sign, plunging Emma into a deadly darkness.

**Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed this. Hopefully I will have another chapter up soon - depending on if you like it or not. If you do like it, I would appreciate it if you took the time to review/favourite/whatever this and I shall get writing. Thank you for reading!**

"


	2. Chapter 2

Nebulous atrocities suffocated the ominous void Emma Swan found herself stuck within. Grasping within it for any source of escape, slowly the heavy feeling in her chest from every deep breath of recovery lessoned. With that relief arrived a speck of light, ablaze in the somber surroundings. Creeping to the corners of her blurred vision, slowly consciousness came to greet its victim.

Blink. A warm room. Blink. A bed. _Why was she in a bed?_

"Are you okay?" Asked a voice somewhere in the distance, keeping away whilst Emma attempted to ignore the dull throb in the back of her head. Ignoring it, desperate to not look helpless, an attempt to sit up was engaged in. Suddenly, a gentle hand was placed on her shoulder, pushing back onto the pillow with embarrassing ease. "Don't sit up too quick, you don't want to do any more damage," soothed the voice.

Emma didn't push the issue. Biting her tongue, knowing the words were correct, she allowed her head to rest. Feeling a hand run down the length of her arm before departing all together, tangled blonde locks were further ruffled by their owner's head turning to face the figure by her bedside.

"Regina?" Breathed Emma, looking the slightly blurred woman up and down from the simple hospital bed. "What are you doing here?"

"Graham patrols the roads at night, he found your bug crashed into the sign and called me," Regina stated, leaning back in the chair she was sat in, close to Emma's bed. "He is a lovely man and very good at his job, but not the brightest spark around. He had you locked up in a jail cell, so I phoned Dr Whale and got you here. He said you should be fine, but needed rest,"

"That doesn't answer my question Regina, what are you doing here?"

"Not knowing where you are in a strange town after an accident? I didn't want you to wake up alone," Mumbled Regina, as if unsure she should be so truthful. "Plus, I wanted to check you were okay, considering you didn't stick to your promise,"

"There was a wolf in the middle of the road, I had to swerve," Emma replied, still laid in a fashion that allowed her to observe Regina, who was sinking ever deeper into the back of the chair, owning none of the posture expected of a mayor.

"A wolf? Are you sure it wasn't something else? I'm not sure we get wolves up here,"

"Well, I saw it for myself. Then I hit your sign, sorry about that by the way,"

"Hey, it could have been worse. A sign can be replaced, now, if you had done serious damage…"

"That would be a bit harder to fix,"

"Only a little bit," Smiled Regina.

Half an hour later, having been given the all clear to leave the hospital, Emma and Regina found themselves slowly walking past a street of quaint Storybrooke shops. With the Maine winds howling, the two had called in for hot chocolate from Granny's. No doubt this would probably be a talking point amongst the locals, as whilst Regina had ordered, Emma had observed quite a few of the customers opting to ignore their meals and conversations to look their way. Once news got out about her crash, they would be having a field day.

"This is delicious," Emma mused, pushing thoughts of nosey residents to the back of her mind, taking a big gulp of her drink after she did so.

"Only the best for discharged hospital patients,"

"I should crash more often," laughed Emma after taking a gulp, bringing her cup down from her lips. At first, Emma couldn't understand the giggling suddenly coming thick and fast from Regina. However, when the woman pointed towards her upper lip, it became evident just what had caused such joy.

"Are you laughing at my moustache?" Asked Emma with a smirk, wiping it away.

"The cinnamon really added to the look,"

"Regina! Regina!" Came a cry that interrupted the laughter of both women. Emma didn't know the voice of the woman running up to them, but the sudden look of fear inhabiting Regina's eyes made uncomfort rise within herself.

"Mary Margaret? What's wrong?" Asked Regina, walking up to the woman who had skidded to a stop in front of them.

"It's Henry," Gasped Mary, seeking breath after appearing to have run a great distance to find Regina. "He didn't come to school today and the bus driver hasn't seen him so I went to find Graham but he said you was at the hospital so I went there but Dr Whale said you had gone so I've been trying to find you and Granny said she had just served you so I've been trying to get your attention for a few minutes but you obviously didn't hear me," all of this was said in the same breath. Once she had finished, a quick series of deep breaths filled the silence between the three women. Remembering all Regina had done for her in the little hours they had known each other, Emma placed a hand on the other's arm and mumbled what she hoped would be a reassuring…

"Don't worry, we will find him,"

"We will?"

"It's my job to find people. I'm sure we can come up with something," Emma said, squeezing the suited arm of her friend, the little gesture one to help Regina feel a little better. Still the other looked to the floor, lips parted slightly, eyes wide and watery, hunched in defeat. It was in that moment, watching the crumbling of the mayor's walls, that Emma truly understood just how Henry's fantasies were impacting his mother. "Mary Margaret right?" Asked Emma hurriedly, panic for both the son she gave away and the woman who took him in threatening to show, "Do you have any idea where Henry could be?"

"I…" she mumbled, casting a glance to Regina as she did so. "…I'm not sure,"

"I think you are," Emma quietly informed her, "I don't know why you aren't telling me-"

"It's because of me isn't it?" Regina spoke, her voice slow with pain. "It means a lot that you won't betray my son, but please, if something is wrong I need to know,"

"It's his place, he goes away to hide there when things get too much for him. He wrote about it once in a creative writing essay, I thought he had made it up but then he told me more about it," Mary told them, Emma sensing a surge of guilt in her hurried speech, as if describing the place would make up for not telling them about it sooner, "He has a castle, that is where I would probably look for him,"

"Thank you," Emma said, she and Regina turning away. Their free time spent to walk aimlessly around town suddenly turned to a mission. Now, this was more familiar territory for Emma, despite the unusual circumstances. And with that, she transformed into the leader of their duo. "We need a car, I don't have mine,"

"We can stop by the station and pick something up,"

"Okay, okay let's do this," Emma nodded, determination showing.

"Maybe you should go alone; I think it is obvious he doesn't want to talk to me,"

"No, we can talk to him together. Make him see he can't pull stunts like this anymore. If he sees both of us want that, he may be more inclined to listen,"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Now, we need to go. Plus, there is something I need to show you… I've got Henry's storybook; let's find out just why he thinks you are the Evil Queen,"

**This is a really quick update, I hope you enjoy it! I'm trying to get through the first three chapters quickly because after the next, the upcoming few chapters aren't based off the show at all and are instead situations separate from it, but I hope you enjoy them too! Thank you to everyone who has followed/favorited my story. Especially big thanks to .Slash and maddenBlack for reviewing! I hope you all take a leaf out of their wonderful books and do the same for this chapter, it would mean a lot at any rate!**


	3. Chapter 3

Trembling fingers slowly ran down the length of page upon yellowing page. Crinkled edges of well read chapters were looked over with great care taken to absorb every inch of extravagant detail. Every now and again, when there was no bend in the road and it was clear ahead, Emma cast a glance over at Regina who was continuously flipping over the pages of the storybook placed gently across her lap. Numerous giveaway signs of a tale being an engrossing one were displayed on every facial feature of the brunette's. However, such signs also suggested a separate tale, that of the Evil Queen, was a painful one to endure.

Emma noted how Regina bit down upon her lip whenever a picture of the royal appeared on the new page. Deep red would no doubt be in agony once the _'and they all lived happily ever'_ was reached. Every so often the woman's eyebrows came together melancholy, eyes dejected, here and there the intake of breath was audible enough for Emma to hear, even though it was obvious Regina attempted to suppress every one. Once she was finished, Regina shut the book with a small, unbelieving thud.

"You okay?" Emma asked cautiously, once the silence became unbearable. Whilst she was used to everything being empty, she wasn't used to engaging in it alongside someone else.

"Yes," Regina shuddered unconvincingly, looking to her lap and down on the book.

"I'll ask again," Emma said simply, "And this time be truthful. Are you okay?"

"I-It's just… this is how he sees me? An Evil Queen who likes to ruin people's lives?" Regina asked, almost begging to be told otherwise. "It wasn't always like this, you know? It only started a couple of months ago, which must have been when he got this book,"

"We will figure something out, don't worry. He's got to realize all of this fairy tale nonsense is made up," Emma attempted to reassure.

"And if he doesn't?"

Silence fell once more.

Slowly, Emma tapped a tune upon the wheel of the sheriff's car. Regina looked out of the window, her figure one of defeat. That way it stayed until the car came to a stop a small distance away from a wooden castle located along the shoreline.

"What's our plan of attack then?" Asked Regina, taking off her seatbelt as Emma's hand leapt for the door.

"Um… hope for the best?"

"Sounds good, you should probably go first," Regina nodded, opening her door. The two walked up to the castle side by side. Natural sea born winds caught them in its path, causing irritating trouble with how it tugged at clothes and hair frantically. Finally, after a little moaning and a lot of rearranging, both women got the better of it and carried onwards, still unnoticed by the small child swinging his legs up high in his castle.

"Henry!" Emma called out, reaching the stairs of the castle and climbing up the wooden planks. Spinning around quickly, great delight was evident upon the boy, which dropped at the sight of Regina joining them.

"Why… why does she have the book?" Was all he could ask, a panic suffocating his worst case scenarios brewing inside as Emma sat at one side of him and Regina the other.

"You left it in Emma's car, that's all," Regina quickly informed him, surprising both her son and Emma by handing him the book back straight away. "I came to return it,"

"You… did?" Henry asked in an unbelieving tone.

"Sure. We also wanted to check up on you. Mary Margaret told us you didn't show up at school," Emma informed him, "You had me and your mother worried,"

It looked like Henry was biting down on his tongue hard to suppress something he desperately wanted to say, but finally he mumbled a "Sorry." Ignoring his hesitation, Regina pulled her son into a tight hug, which Emma was pleased to see him return, even if he seemed eager for the hug to be over. It satisfied Regina anyway, who declared she would wait in the car for them. For a moment, both Emma and Henry watched as she left, before the young boy turned to Emma with a concerned look on his face.

"Did she read the book?"

"Of course she did. Can you blame her? You think she's the Evil Queen, she wants to know why,"

"She is! And Mary Margaret is Snow White and Archie is Jiminy Cricket and-"

"Henry, you need to tone it down a little. You're upsetting her, okay?" Emma pleaded, "I've spent all day with her. She was even at the hospital with me, don't worry I'm fine," she quickly dismissed his questioning about what happened to carry on, "But, you need to cut out the evil stuff, because she isn't,"

"You don't know that," Henry stubbornly pressed. "You are here for a reason, to make things change! To let the final battle begin! It's your destiny; you're going to bring back the happy endings,"

"The first happy ending, and only happy ending, I'll be bringing back is Regina's okay? You have to promise to act nicer to her. You may think she is evil, but don't treat her that way. When you go back to her-"

"I don't want to go back to her!"

"You have to. And when you do, please treat her like you did before you discovered this book,"

"Fine. But you have to promise to help me break the curse,"

"Look-"

"Just stay here for a week at least, let me try and convince you,"

"Come on kid, we need to go, Regina's waiting," Emma sighed, standing up, waiting for Henry to join her before heading down the stairs and towards the car. Like the journey there, the journey home was conducted in silence too.

"Thank you for everything today Emma," Regina sighed once they had returned to the Mayor's mansion. Henry and his fairytale book were in his room and for the second night in a row, his mothers were sharing a drink of apple cider.

"It was nothing. Honestly. Consider it a thank you for being a friend when I needed one," Emma smiled, thinking back to waking up in the hospital with Regina waiting for her.

"Well, seeing as we are friends now, I've phoned Granny up. You know, from the café this morning? She runs a bed and breakfast. Your car is in the shop so you can't drive home and I can't let you go homeless, so I've booked you a room," Regina happily informed Emma with a sip of her cider.

"Seriously? You sorted that all out for me?"

"Sure, it is the least I can do,"

"I promised him I'd stay for a week-"

"However long you stay, I will make sure the bill gets paid. Don't worry about it," Regina smiled with no trace of the Evil Queen in sight.

"Thank you, you really didn't have to,"

"I wanted to,"

For the second time in two nights, both glasses of cider emptied themselves quickly. Once again, the two accompanied each other to the front of the house, saying their goodbyes. This time, however, as Regina's door shut behind her, Henry was placed high in his window, waving as she left. Emma couldn't help the small smile on her lips as she waved back. Taking the road to Granny's, for the first time in forever, something she was doing finally felt _right._

**And with that comes the end of the chapter. I hope you all enjoyed! Personally, I'm looking forward to writing the upcoming chapters which are independent to what happened in the show, I can only hope you keep reading and responding to what I do because it is uplifting to see what you think about this! Once again, I appreciate any feedback you give me and it means a lot if you submit a review. Thank you! **


End file.
